Unpopular opinion: Malenia is not the hardest boss

[Spawn of Fenrir]

Infact, she's relatively easy in comparison to Radagon/Elden Beast.
I am firmly of that opinion after just finishing my 3rd playthrough tonight.... never needed help with Malenia, nor ever felt like I was outmatched, if something wasn't working, I'd just change my strat a bit and eventually wipe the floor with her, whereas 2 out 3 playthroughs I DID need help with Elden Beast. Even the playthrough where I didn't need help, a NG+ playthrough where I was pretty powerful and overleveled, even then, it took me way more tries than any other boss in that run, with the average being one or two tries with the other bosses.... only 2 tries for Malenia.

[Dollmaker]

I mean Elden Beast is kinda of a joke if you know what your doing, some spells alone can completely obliterate it.

Radagon is the real deal of that boss.

And out of the two, i say Malenia is hardest but more easy to abuse with certain builds.

[楊玄。杨玄。LangrisserWWE]

Not surprising. But that opinion will change once you get use to the bosses you find hardest right now. I think Malenia is the hardest for most first timers. That is without a doubt.

[Spawn of Fenrir]

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

I mean Elden Beast is kinda of a joke if you know what your doing, some spells alone can completely obliterate it.

Radagon is the real deal of that boss.

And out of the two, i say Malenia is hardest but more easy to abuse with certain builds.

In my experience Malenia staggers like a drunken sailor lol I mean seriously she folds so fast when hit with pretty much anything. I found the Elden beast part of the fight the most difficult.... sure Radagon is no pushover, but often I'd get to Elden Beast missing maybe a couple health flasks and a mana flask or two, and still get nothing but steamrolled...... yes there are some spells Comet Azure for instance that can melt him, but he's not just going to stand there and let you hit him with the entire thing.

[pcdeltalink]

Malenia made me rage quit for a week when I first saw her phase 2.

When I did finally come back, decided to change to bleed whip, decided to forgo spirit summons, and just spend time learning her moves I managed to topple her after about 6 or 7 hours of practice. So yeah, could have been far worse...and then I ran into Maliketh and am stuck there now instead.

[Kyutaru]

Buff holy resist = easy boss.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Spawn of Fenrir:

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

I mean Elden Beast is kinda of a joke if you know what your doing, some spells alone can completely obliterate it.

Radagon is the real deal of that boss.

And out of the two, i say Malenia is hardest but more easy to abuse with certain builds.

In my experience Malenia staggers like a drunken sailor lol I mean seriously she folds so fast when hit with pretty much anything. I found the Elden beast part of the fight the most difficult.... sure Radagon is no pushover, but often I'd get to Elden Beast missing maybe a couple health flasks and a mana flask or two, and still get nothing but steamrolled...... yes there are some spells Comet Azure for instance that can melt him, but he's not just going to stand there and let you hit him with the entire thing.

I mean Spiral Shard, that thing hits multiple times, making a destroyer of giants.

The Incantation variant being Pest Treats

[Spawn of Fenrir]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Malenia made me rage quit for a week when I first saw her phase 2.

When I did finally come back, decided to change to bleed whip, decided to forgo spirit summons, and just spend time learning her moves I managed to topple her after about 6 or 7 hours of practice. So yeah, could have been far worse...and then I ran into Maliketh and am stuck there now instead.

For Maliketh, Blasphemous blade is the way to go...... or if you're a mage, just throw a bunch of rocks at him, lol

I get the impression that everyone has a hardest boss, and for alot of people that seems to be Malenia..... but not for all of us, lol

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by Spawn of Fenrir:

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Malenia made me rage quit for a week when I first saw her phase 2.

When I did finally come back, decided to change to bleed whip, decided to forgo spirit summons, and just spend time learning her moves I managed to topple her after about 6 or 7 hours of practice. So yeah, could have been far worse...and then I ran into Maliketh and am stuck there now instead.

For Maliketh, Blasphemous blade is the way to go...... or if you're a mage, just throw a bunch of rocks at him, lol

I get the impression that everyone has a hardest boss, and for alot of people that seems to be Malenia..... but not for all of us, lol

Also not committing, Maliketh in both phases will often do specific follow ups, most noticeably, Destined Death, which is impossible to avoid if youre hit by the swing.

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by Spawn of Fenrir:

For Maliketh, Blasphemous blade is the way to go...... or if you're a mage, just throw a bunch of rocks at him, lol

Yeah I'm a melee build, Dragon Halberd with Fingerprint Stone Shield (don't ask how many lvls in Endurance I have to let me medium roll, lol) and I don't really use ashes of war. No particular reason, I just tend to forget/never use stuff like that. Same way how in Sekiro I rarely used prosthetic tools.

I actually almost beat Maliketh first try but he had about 1/10 of his hp left and I ran out of crimson flasks. And, of course, I've never gotten that close since then. Heck, I have no idea how I got that close the first time.

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

Also not committing, Maliketh in both phases will often do specific follow ups, most noticeably, Destined Death, which is impossible to avoid if youre hit by the swing.

Is that his giant AoE of "screw you, there's no way to avoid this move"? If so I hate it and I can't seem to tell when it's going to happen or how to avoid it.

[MingQWERTY]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Is that his giant AoE of "screw you, there's no way to avoid this move"? If so I hate it and I can't seem to tell when it's going to happen or how to avoid it.

You can avoid it. He'll always hit the ground with his sword with a flame and then flip towards you before landing again and doing the Destined Death weapon art. You have to sprint towards him while he's flipping towards you and then roll. This will get you behind him and his aoe cut will completely miss you because it's located at the front.

Alternatively, if you're close to Maliketh when he has his sword stuck into the ground, he'll instead dodge away from you and either not do the weapon art or start to wind it up with a very obvious and telegraphed swing with particle effects. For that one you need to sprint away because the aoe lasts longer than your i-frames.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by pcdeltalink:

Originally posted by Spawn of Fenrir:

For Maliketh, Blasphemous blade is the way to go...... or if you're a mage, just throw a bunch of rocks at him, lol

Yeah I'm a melee build, Dragon Halberd with Fingerprint Stone Shield (don't ask how many lvls in Endurance I have to let me medium roll, lol) and I don't really use ashes of war. No particular reason, I just tend to forget/never use stuff like that. Same way how in Sekiro I rarely used prosthetic tools.

I actually almost beat Maliketh first try but he had about 1/10 of his hp left and I ran out of crimson flasks. And, of course, I've never gotten that close since then. Heck, I have no idea how I got that close the first time.

Originally posted by Dollmaker:

Also not committing, Maliketh in both phases will often do specific follow ups, most noticeably, Destined Death, which is impossible to avoid if youre hit by the swing.

Is that his giant AoE of "screw you, there's no way to avoid this move"? If so I hate it and I can't seem to tell when it's going to happen or how to avoid it.

The one where he does a large swing and stabs the ground doing a bunch of slashes.

To avoid it 100% of the time, dont commit when hes doing any combo, he usually does it at the end of his current combo if youre next to him, once he starts the swing, dodge the initial slash, and run away from him.

That way you dodge the blade and outspace the slashes.

[GONDAL]

pretty sure people only think malenia is hard because of waterfowl dance. otherwise she is fairly mild

[MingQWERTY]

Originally posted by AzureDreams:

pretty sure people only think malenia is hard because of waterfowl dance. otherwise she is fairly mild

It's also because she has inconsistent hyperarmor. Some of your attacks will stagger and interrupt her while some will not. She can also just cancel the stagger and immediately move into another attack, making it extremely risky to get a hit.

[Dollmaker]

Originally posted by AzureDreams:

pretty sure people only think malenia is hard because of waterfowl dance. otherwise she is fairly mild

Not really due to how fast her attack are and her quick follow ups to being attacked.

Shes a boss that demands the players to be on their toes.

[pcdeltalink]

Originally posted by AzureDreams:

pretty sure people only think malenia is hard because of waterfowl dance. otherwise she is fairly mild

Biggest problem I had with her was her being able to heal on shield hits. And then, when I tried to roll and counter her attacks I did not have the range on my weapon to properly do so. Uchigatana didn't work (where is Washing Pole in this game?!), claws didn't work, only Petal Whip gave me the range to properly dodge and then counterattack.